BLM hosts community session about oil and gas development (05-07-12)

ALAMOSA, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management’s San Luis Valley Field Office will host a community education session about federal oil and gas development on Saturday, May 19, from 10am to 2:30pm at the Adams State College Student Union Building, Room 309, Alamosa, Colo.

The session will provide the community an opportunity to learn about the BLM’s oil and gas program and the State of Colorado’s role in the leasing process. The morning will include presentations from the BLM and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. In the afternoon the public can visit information stations and ask questions of program specialists from both agencies.

The stations will include information about the National Environmental Policy Act and BLM’s planning process, oil and gas development and surface use, the BLM and split estate, and the COGCC.

The planned agenda is:

10:00am – 12:00pm Presentations about oil and gas resources: what they are, how they are leased, and how they are developed

12:00pm – 1:00pm Break for lunch

12:30pm – 2:30pm Information stations

Adams State will not charge for parking on Saturday, but attendees are asked not to use reserved parking spaces.

Nationally, the BLM manages oil and gas leasing on 570 million acres of BLM, national forest, and other federal lands, as well as private lands where minerals rights belong to the federal government. In Colorado, the BLM manages 27 million acres of mineral estate. The BLM was given this responsibility through the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, and the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands of 1947.

The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.